Under The Armor
by E.R. David
Summary: Enchanted Forest AU. Emma is the daughter of a merchant. The Queen Regina reigns. One day, during the annual recruitment for new knights, Emma decides to participate because it has always been her dream. But there is one thing: all knights must be men. Is there a problem? Yes. Does Emma care? No. Disclaimers: I don't own Once Upon A Time. Snow White is dead. SwanQueen will happen.
1. Chapter 1

She was focused, her right hand was holding a sword and her eyes were looking at an invisible enemy. Both feet on the ground, but her head was high in the clouds. Emma was training like every morning, breathing in the fresh air in her lungs. The sun was starting to rise, and the birds were singing a beautiful melody.

She had that routine where she got up early, went down by the river near her house, was washing herself quickly before anyone could have a chance to see her naked and when it was done, she could start her training. Feeling the water on her bare skin was one of the feelings Emma liked the most, and handling a sword. Those two feelings were important for her, so that's why she made sure every time to enjoy every second.

Handling a sword for the young girl was like meditation for her mind. Concentrated on a target that only her could see, her whole body was listening to what she was saying and all the energy she had was centered in the palm of her right hand. And finally the sword, made of wood, who kept knocking against a tree. And another. And another. For Emma, that type of exercise could have been compared to that feeling someone gets when they ate and they feel full. Well, she felt it each dawn.

The blond ponytail was waving from left to right. Emma was careful and was listening to every sound that her brain was analyzing without exception. The sound of her feet on the wet grass, the sound of her sword banging against the trees, the sound of her father screaming…

The sound of her father screaming.

"EMMA HELP!"

As soon as Emma's mind was back down on Earth, she immediately dropped her weapon. She started running in the direction of the yelling. When she arrived, the first thing she saw was her father with his hands on his back, who was still shouting from the pain.

"Dad, what happened here?! Are you OK?" Emma asked.

"Yeah," he responded with difficulties, due to the striking injury he just gained. "I was ready to go to the market so I started pushing the wheelbarrow but its wheel got stuck. I made a wrong move and I hurt my back. I hope the vegetables are OK, because we really need money…" Her father sobbed.

David Nolan, Emma's father, was, a long time ago, the bravest knight of them all. He was the best, and everyone knew it. He was respected. When he was travelling from villages to villages on the back of his horse, the only thing people could do was staring at him. He was, well, charming.

During a particular mission, at the time when the Queen Cora was still alive and reigning, he got caught in a snare on the troll's bridge. He was fighting for his life like he never did before. Suddenly, a mysterious person jumped out of nowhere and helped him beating the trolls. Thereafter, he only asked their name. The stranger removed their hood from their head and only said "Snow. Snow White."

"Emma," David started, "since you still don't have a husband, and you know I will never force you to have one, I would appreciate if you could help me from now on with the shop."

In the Enchanted Forest, it was a standard for a woman to marry a man before her twenties. But for Emma, it had never been a priority.

"You're 21, honey." Her dad continue. "It's time that you do something for a living and help me pay the rent for the house."

"I know dad." Emma answered. "I will help starting from now I promise. You know I will always love you and do my best for you."

"Thank you Emma. You could start by picking up the vegetables on the ground before the ants eat them all." He said with a smile on his face. And pain.

"But dad, your back, is it serious?..." Emma asked, afraid of what his father could respond.

"I don't know, I can't go see the doctor, we don't have enough money. The rest of it is for the house." He sobbed.

"I can go and talk to the man you're giving money to! I will!" She said with determination.

"No!" David almost shouted. " I already told you. The only person dealing with Rumplestiltskin is me."

"OK I get it… but you should have never made that deal with the Dark One years ago…" Her daughter responded, with a little bit of anger in her voice.

But he had no choice back then. He had to make that deal. Because of it, Emma is alive. And it's all that matters.

"We don't talk about that and you know it too. Now, let's go, the market is about to open."


	2. Chapter 2

The market was located inside the biggest Kingdom of any lands, where many people owned a shop. Merchants were selling almost everything someone possibly could need, one day or another in their life. One shop was selling fruits to make some good pies, some were selling wheat to make bread and some others soap. There was even a shop considered like the armory of the Kingdom.

David installed his shop years ago near the fountain, because he knew a lot of people passed by every day. He made sure to be easily in the sight of all.

It was still morning, no clouds on the horizon and the market was starting to fill up.

Emma was standing behind her dad's shop, handing over vegetables to the clients. The girl was a bit bored, because she was used to move all day, practising her skills with a sword. Now, she was practising her skills to sell food. It was, well, different from what she usually did during a normal day.

"Emma, you look bored, what's going on?" David asked.

"Nothing dad, I'm OK..." but her response didn't convinced the man, so she continued "... it's just that I miss being free and doing whatever I want, when I want."

"I know honey, but it was time that you started doing something other than hitting trees all day long, don't you think?"

But Emma liked it. She could have been hitting trees for the rest of her life and never complain about it. But her father injured himself, what was she supposed to do? She loved him and he was her dad after all… and they needed money.

So, she putted a smile on her face to please David.

* * *

Things were going great. They sold almost every vegetable this morning, even those who fell on the ground. People didn't care, they were hungry.

The sun was shining, as the afternoon was beginning.

While Emma was counting the money that her and her dad gained together earlier, this one went away to eat with an old friend. The market was calm, it was lunch time and people had returned to their home.

The girl's concentration was abruptly interrupted by a loud crowd of knights. Fifteen of them, wandering around the fountain, joking and talking with each other.

Usually, knights didn't visit the market dressed in their armor. And they surely weren't wasting time together like they were doing in front of Emma's eyes.

The young woman stared at the group a little longer than necessary, but she couldn't help herself. The armors were so clean, the iron didn't had a trace of rust. None.

She got lost in her thoughts, imagining herself wearing one of those big and imposing shield made from the most precious steel of the kingdom. The weight of it on her shoulder, the responsibilities that came with it, how good she could looked in an armor…

"Hi!"

Emma almost fell over. Her mind was completely somewhere else and she never noticed the knight who was standing in front of her.

"Hi, I'm so sorry I never saw you arrive…" She replied, embarrassed.

She was impressed by how the man in front of her had this fierce look in his eyes. He was intimidating, but he looked so humble. The type of person that could've been the quietest in the group. His smile was contagious.

"It's OK don't stress about it, it happens to the best of us." The young man said. "I could use something to give me the energy to finish this exhausting day. May I have a carrot and maybe some fresh mushrooms please?"

"Yeah sure!" Emma answered. While she was picking up the carrot and the mushrooms, she kept talking with the man. "So, rough day you said?"

"Yes, it's the annual day of recruitment and they had us running, fighting and practising all day. It seems less tiring than it looks!" The knight finished his sentence with a laugh.

Emma stopped. What did the knight say? Was it really the annual day of recruitment?

"I've been waiting my whole life for that moment, you know." He continued, while he was being handed over his vegetables.

Oh, Emma knew.

"I know, me too! I didn't know it was today though…" she replied, disappointed. She was stuck at the shop for the day and who knew for how long...

"Awesome! So, I guess you're twenty one then. But don't you know? All knights must be men… you can't join the cavalry."

Emma didn't know that. How had she ever known this before?

"But maybe there is a way for you to join us…"

"Are you sure? What is it? Tell me please, it's always been my dream!" She asked, her voice filled with hope and joy.

"Can you see the shop that looks like an armory? Go there, buy an entire armor and come join us later. Maybe they won't notice the fact that you're a girl. Anyway, it's stupid that women can't be knights. Who invented this law?" He said, a bit frustrated.

Emma was thinking fast. It was today. THE day. The day she had been waiting for so long. She couldn't miss her chance. It was now or never. She kept thinking, until…

There it goes. She had a plan, and hoping it would works…

"You seem brave. I'm really looking forward to be a knight by your side. By the way, my name is Lancelot."

Emma made sure to never forget his name. He was so kind.

"My name is Emma, and one day Lancelot, we will be travelling across lands together defending the Kingdom, I promise you."

A mischievous smile on her face, she knew. Her time had finally come.

An armor made of steel, it's not that heavy right? Anyway, what could be more heavy than the fact that Emma wasn't a man?...

The fact that she didn't care.

 _ **Thank you for the views, the favs and the follows! It means so much to me! Don't hesitate to comment and talk to me! I'm sorry for the potential mistakes, english isn't my first language. All this attention for this fanfic makes me want to write every day! I will**_ _ **try**_ _ **to post a chapter per week for you guys. Again, thank you and until next time...**_


	3. Chapter 3

Emma was waiting for a while now. No sign of David. There was no time to lose, she had to go to the court with the others, otherwise she might never get a second chance to realize her dream.

To kill time, the daughter's merchant was practicing her sword's skills with a stick she found on the ground. At least, it was distracting her from the stress she was starting to get.

A real knight. Emma always been a believer, but never in a million years she had thought that one day, she might actually get a real occasion to become one. It was really happening. Well, not quite yet. There was just a little problem: she didn't had an armor. And her father was nowhere to see. Where was he? The clock was ticking.

"I'm gone for one hour and when I come back you're already tired of managing my shop?"

Emma nearly jumped out of her skin. The girl never heard David walking towards her. She got scared for the second time today. She had to improve her sense of observation or else she was going to be a bad knight…

"Dad, you scared the hell out of me!" Emma responded sharply, due to the fright she just lived. "Anyway, where were you? I was waiting for you to come back for a while now."

"Why were you waiting for me? What's going on?" David asked, intrigued.

"Well, I don't know if you aware of this, but today is the annual day of recruitment… for new knights… and I think you already know that it has always been my dream to become one. I would like to borrow the money we made earlier this morning to buy an armor and go to the court to do the training with the others. I will make much more money when I will be a knight than selling vegetables. I will repay you and I will help you to pay the house! What do you think?"

David wasn't surprised. Actually, he was very aware of what day it was.

A long time ago, when he had 21, David did the whole training to become a knight. He was the best and his best friend, whom grew by his side his whole life, the King Henry, knew it. David was the knight of choice by excellence, he was always traveling on the back of his horse, defending the Kingdom he was proud to call home. Then, he met Snow White.

In the beginning, Cora and Snow were best friends. Always drinking tea in the higher tower of the castle, talking and laughing at everything. It was like they had known each other since forever. But one day, everything changed.

Cora had trouble being pregnant. She tried for so long, but it just didn't worked out. The King was very sad, he wanted to be dad. Most importantly, they needed someone to succeed them. Someone to take the throne after their death. But, their efforts were in vain.

During an afternoon like all the others, where Cora and Snow were talking gossips, Snow, who wasn't aware of Cora's problem, announced the greatest news of her young life: she was pregnant. Cora congratulated her friend, behind a fake smile. At this very moment, nothing was the same for Cora, Snow, David and the entire Kingdom.

Cora, madly jealous of her best friend, went to visit Rumplestiltskin, or well known under the name of The Dark One. He was the most powerful person in the Enchanted Forest, and further. The Queen wanted to be pregnant. Putting a curse on her best friend sounded too much extreme for the woman. But, as everyone knew, magic always came with a price. At the time, Rumplestiltskin hated with so much hate the King. The sorcerer tried to become a knight once, but he was rejected and he never accepted it. In exchange of a pregnancy for Cora, his price was Henry's heart. And Cora was selfish. She didn't care about her husband, she never loved him, so she made the deal.

Months later, as Cora and Snow were living their pregnancy together, Snow fell sick. Nobody knew what was going on. As a last resort, David and Snow went to see The Dark One. They ended up making a deal. The baby was going to be safe, Snow was going to have a healthy child, but there was no way to trick death. Snow was going to die. David was going to live in a house that belonged to the most powerful man in their world, and he was going to do some dangerous missions for him. He could never escape this fate. The deal was sealed.

When Snow delivered, David went to live in the house and because of this sacrifice, his reputation as the best knight in the Kingdom was forever destroyed. He lost the love of his life and his armor, but at least, his little girl was safe.

For her part, Cora delivered almost immediately after Snow. A healthy baby that looks exactly like her mother. The King Henry had only the time to hold his child for five minutes. His heart got crushed into millions pieces by his widow to become.

The rest was history, like they say.

"Yeah sure honey! I've always believed in your talent. I know you will become the greatest knights of them all. Believe it too."

"Dad, one day, you will be proud of me. Be sure that I'm going to repay you and help for the rent. I will visit you as often as possible. I love you and thank you so much!"

"I love you too, my little swan. Never forget one thing: they will all think that you're a duck. Prove them wrong, show them that THEY are all ducks, and among them there is a beautiful and strong swan. Go now, before you miss your chance. Take care Emma."

They hugged for at least two minutes, then, she let go of the hold she had from her father, and she bought an armor.

Emma knew she was a swan. But people didn't saw it that way. For them, she was just the ugly duckling of the most pitiful man. Like father, like daughter. They knew who she was, but people never saw her face. She grew outside the Kingdom, in a little valley near of it. David, with the age, changed radically and he was no longer recognizable. Nobody knew the real identity of that man standing everyday behind his shop, selling vegetables.

That bad reputation Emma had in the mind of those people she didn't even knew was the least of her worries. She had other business to take care. Like the part that was missing between her legs.

One thing was sure, no one could ever knew that she was the daughter of David Nolan.

Never.

 ** _Wow! Y'all seems really to like the beggining of this story! Thank you all again for the support you're bringing me every chapter! The story is only at the start, but it means so much to me. I'm going to write a long story. I have so much ideas. Don't be shy, comment! And oh, stay tuned._**

 ** _The Queen is coming..._**


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